“It’s a compromise:” Lawmakers land on budget proposal

Wisconsin is closing in on a two-year state budget.

Governor Evers started Tuesday morning by announcing a tentative deal with Republican lawmakers. By afternoon, the Legislature’s budget committee had recommended the plan. 

“It’s a compromise, right? We worked with the Gov, we worked with some other folks on the Senate side,” said Republican Rep. Mark Born, co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee.

“With any compromise, there’s things to like, and there’s things to dislike. I’m not going to spend a lot of time dwelling on the things I don’t like, I’m going to spend time on the things I like.” 

The proposed budget puts forward key Republican priorities, including a tax cut projected to reduce the average income tax by $180. Retirees, too, would also see some relief in a portion of taxes on their retirement income. 

Evers has promised that he won’t use his partial veto pen on tax cuts or any other areas of the plan he negotiated with Republicans. 

The proposed budget required compromise as two Republican state senators have signalled throughout the budget process that they wouldn’t sign on. 

Before today, Republican state Sen. Chris Kapenga said he was wary of passing any new budget, and giving Governor Evers another chance to use his line-item veto. Republican state Sen. Steve Nass has, through a spokesperson, called this year’s budget process “the worst” he’s seen. He’ll reportedly vote no on Wednesday. 

Democrats were mixed on the plan, too. The late stage of the budget negotiations involved Minority Leader, Democratic state Sen. Dianne Hesselbein, reported Civic Media’s Dan Shafer. 

In a statement Tuesday morning, Hesselbein called the agreement “not perfect and not the budget Democrats will craft when we are in the majority.” But she said it addressed the priorities of Wisconsinites by putting funding in public schools, child care, and the UW System. 

Others, like state Sen. LaTonya Johnson, Democrat from Milwaukee and member of the budget committee, said this budget process was different.

“For the first time since being in this building, this is truly a bipartisan effort. It was a bipartisan effort not necessarily by choice, but by force,” said Johnson, speaking on the floor of the Joint Finance Committee on Tuesday. 

Still, some Democrats signalled they’d vote no on Wednesday without significant changes. State Reps. Francesca Hong of Madison and Angelina Cruz of Racine, along with state Sen. Chris Larson of Milwaukee, put out statements criticizing a zero-dollar increase in school aid. 

They argued taxpayers will still end up paying more in taxes as school districts turn to property referendums, which were pitched to voters in record numbers across Wisconsin last year. The lawmakers also took aim at a “modest increase” in special education reimbursement. 

Other Democrats have expressed frustration that the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, an environmental conservation program that’s operated in Wisconsin for more than three and a half decades, was left out of this budget. 

“We should just fund it. I know we’re all getting a ton of mail on Knowles-Nelson,” Rep. Deb Andraca, Democrat from Whitefish Bay, told her colleagues on the Joint Finance Committee during consideration of the DNR budget late-night on Friday. 

“We are committed to get it done, we want to get it done right… you’re going to see a lot more coming up in the future concerning Knowles-Nelson,” responded Rep. Tony Kurtz, Republican from Wonewoc who’s also on the budget committee. He’s co-author of a separate bill that re-authorizes the conservation program until 2030.  The bill also requires the DNR to prioritize projects for property development rather than acquisition, and restricts the acquisition of land in excess of $1 million.  

In a statement, state Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin, also a Democrat from Whitefish Bay, said she was “deeply disappointed” that the budget proposal didn’t contain reauthorization for Knowles-Nelson. 

The compromise budget would fund Democratic priorities like child care, the Universities of Wisconsin, and Medicaid. 

$330 million in child care funding would give some relief to child care providers and families, after the pandemic-era Child Care Counts program officially sunset June 30. The program helped stabilize an industry that while expensive for both families and providers, is low-paying for employees. About a third would go in direct payments to centers, with roughly $123 million more to family subsidies and millions more to expand infant and toddler care.

Universities of Wisconsin would get a boost of about $256 million, a third of what UW President Jay Rothman had asked for but a far cry from a cut. 

Campus branches will also get some building improvements, from Prairie Springs Science Center at UW-La Crosse, Ottensman Hall engineering building at UW-Platteville, to a renovation of UW-Milwaukee’s health science center and engineering buildings. 

The much-maligned UW-Madison Humanities Building won’t get a demolition, yet. But $5 million will go to plan for it. 

As federal legislation is poised to remove Medicaid coverage for tens of thousands of Wisconsinites, the state budget would also raise hospital reimbursement rates from 1.8 percent to 6 percent, and fund the Medicaid cost-to-continue. The agreement also includes a $1.5 million boost for free and charitable clinics. 

Some parts of the Governor’s budget proposal didn’t move forward. The Green Bay Correctional Facility, built in 1898, won’t be closed yet. Instead, lawmakers allocated $15 million in construction planning and realignment for the eventual closure of the prison by 2029. 

Some Democrats panned that. 

“We know the opposing party has said they want to close Green Bay Correctional, but they  haven’t proposed a plan to do it,” said state Sen. Kelda Roys, Democrat from Madison. 

“The Governor has laid out a plan that is the cheapest and fastest way… I think we can do better, I know we’ll do better. We’ll be in the majority in 2026.” 

The budget also includes some unexpected items, including the issuance of two new special license plates: a “blackout” plate with white letters on a black background, and a “retro” plate featuring black letters on a yellow background. The $25 annual fee is expected to generate millions for the DMV and transportation funds. 

The film industry will also get a start in tax breaks to spur movie-making in Wisconsin. The budget creates a film office in the Department of Tourism and $5 million in tax credits. 

The budget heads to the full state Legislature on Wednesday, and then to Governor Evers. 

By the end, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau projects that there would be $829 million left over, with a net balance of $714 million and a structural deficit of -$1.2 billion.